Validation
by Silver Flair
Summary: "All he had ever wanted in life was the approval of someone, anyone, and the only hope he had was from his family." Hadrian Potter is different, unusual, and strange. Hadrian Potter accepts this as his life. but then a letter comes. What will this change, or will it change nothing?
1. Approval

Chapter 1 - Approval

All he had ever wanted in life was the approval of someone, anyone, and the only hope he had was from his family.

He wanted to see their beautiful smiles directed towards him, and hear praises escape from their lips. To be taken into their arms and held, _loved,_ he knows it's possible, he's seen them hold Dudley in such a way. Right now, and maybe even forever, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley were his _entire world,_ even if his world was a very, very small one. Nothing, nothing at all, was as important to him as they were, _they're all he's ever known_. Yet, no matter what he did, no matter how hard he _tried_ , no matter how hard he studied, _or didn't,_ and no matter how hard he worked, all he received was hateful words and painful punishments _._ Throughout it all, and against all reason or rhyme, he still loved them, and he didn't know _why_. It was wrong, the way they treated him, _he knew that_ , and yet all he desired was their love. What was wrong with him?  
He knew it was normal in human beings, to crave family and love, but not to this extent. The pure _need_ he experienced everyday wasn't anything, anything close to or even resembling, the many books he read about psychology. It was nothing at all like the numerous families he had gazed upon at school, watching the other children be picked up by their guardians, or at markets when he accompanied Aunt Petunia to carry the bags. _So, why was he so different?_ What made him like this? Was it some secret he was not privy to, if so, then what?  
Maybe, just maybe he felt like this because he wasn't normal. If so, then this isolation, this situation, _was his fault._ At least he had a room he could go to when things got to hard, _his cupboard,_ its comforting walls around him, protecting him from harm, and secure floors underneath, even if he had to share it with the spiders. He'll never tell his family how much he loved the, _his, it was his_ , cupboard. He didn't want it taken away, just like everything else he has ever loved, _just like his baby blanket_.  
He wasn't like them, _he's a freak,_ they've made sure he knows that by telling him everyday. It's because unexplainable things happened around him, like floating plates or shrinking clothes. That's what they told him, _that he's unusual_ , so it must be so. They wouldn't dare lie to family, _right?_ To make him even more freakish, he hadn't even known his own name until he was five, having been told the very same day he went to primary school, was that wrong?  
A year later, when he was six years old, and a mean teacher's hair turned blue before his very eyes, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon stopped throwing him into the cupboard after school, and instead made him do chores, like cooking and gardening. Although Dudley didn't have to, still doesn't in fact, instead he plays games and watches the Telly, when he had asked why that was so, he was told he had to do them, the chores, because it was 'working the freakishness out of him,' before he was punished. That was the day he stopped asking questions, in fear of what would happen if he did.  
He likes working in the garden though, because he has the time to daydream of having a family, someone who will encourage his curiosity, and love him unconditionally. For that reason, every night he's filled with utter shame, how selfish he was, _to wish for something he already had_ ; there were thousands of orphans who probably wished to be in his place right now _._ Yet all he wants, his only desire, his only dream, was for someone, anyone, to care for him, _to_ _treasure me_ , to feel concerned when he's hurt, _to_ _protect me,_ and hold him when he gets scared, _to love me_. He shouldn't be frightened of the world, _I'm only eleven years old,_ shouldn't he be in awe of it? Is it really all that wrong, to wish for just one smile, just one, directed towards me?

Without any warning, a fist banged on the aged wooden door that enclosed him in the cupboard, causing him to flinch from his musings and jerk around to look at where the sound originated from. A clicking noise occurs as the lock on the door is opened, and the door is jerked outward, forcing a harsh light into the small, formerly dark, space. When his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, he sees a rather tall, thin woman, with blonde hair and extremely pale blue eyes, almost resembling ice, standing in front of him. An ugly sneer is upon her face, her eyes gazing at his small huddled form in disgust.  
"Get up Freak, Breakfast needs to be on the table in exactly thirty minutes, after that's done, you're going to mow the lawn, front and back, perfectly even, as well as weed the garden, before the guests arrive for Dinner. I'm leaving a list of chores on the Hallway table that you're to start when Breakfast is finished," Her eyes quickly scan his body, glaring angrily, almost in betrayal, at the dirt on his neck, and underneath his nails. "You'll have ten minutes to shower, in cold water, and get dressed in your guest clothes after you finish the lawn. We can't have Mr. and Mrs. Pemberton catching sight of you when you're like _this_." With one final sneer, the woman, still dressed in her pale pink satin pyjamas, storms up the stairs to get ready for the day.  
He lets out a sigh; closing his eyes and slumping his shoulders briefly in exhaustion before climbing out of the cupboard, reaching back in too fold the tattered and torn-up blankets, setting them in the far right corner. On top of them he places his worn-out school bag, and his other t-shirts and trousers; most of which use to be Dudley's until he grew out of them, before putting a dark-grey plastic sheet over it, to cover the pile from spying eyes. _Mrs. Pemberton, the 'Gossip-Queen', is coming, that means she'll try and find some scandal to tell the other women about Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; which means that today's Dinner will have to be as delicious and perfect as can be. Not to mention, the house has to be flawless as well._ He stands, letting out a quiet groan as his aching back is straightened. _If that's so, I'll make the best meal the Pembertons have ever eaten, then they'll only have good things to say about 'that Dursley family;' I'll also clean the house until it's spotless, that'll teach those Pembertons about spying on others._ He glances at the clock hanging in the hallway, checking the time. _There's twenty-five minutes until Dudley's down for breakfast, which means that Uncle Vernon will be down in fifteen minutes for a cuppa._ A small smiles crossed his face, causing his beautiful emerald eyes to brighten.  
 _What should I make for Breakfast this morning?_ _What could get me praised for doing good today?_ He limps his way down the hallway, quickly grabbing the list on the small table before continuing on to the Kitchen, pausing in the doorway. _Dudley adores bacon, Uncle Vernon loves, well likes, eggs, and Aunt Petunia enjoys tomatoes. So I'll make bacon, scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, and some toast._ He goes to the fridge and pulls out the bacon, and tomatoes, before going to the pantry to grab a loaf of homemade, only three days ago, bread. He begins to softly hum a lullaby he always seems to have on his mind as he prepares the food, cutting the bread and slicing the tomatoes.  
After he's done, he begins to cook the toast in the toaster by the stove. Next to the toast, he places the tomatoes on the stove-top grill, making sure to place the tomatoes so the grill marks are even. Around 10 minutes later, with the tomatoes and toast already done and placed on the table, he quickly runs to the front door, briefly pausing to arrange his face in a neutral mask. Opening the door he walks, with a barely noticeable limp, to the end of the driveway and picks up the morning paper. Just as he was about to turn and walk inside, a voice shouts out to catch his attention.  
"Hadrian, how are you?" A teenager, around sixteen years of age, jogs up to the small boy. "I haven't seen you in awhile, where have you been?" He pauses briefly before he continues on, not giving Hadrian the chance to answer. "Never mind, that doesn't really matter right now. I just wanted to let you know the next study group is in three days, at the usual place and time." He pushes his brown hair out of his face, tilting his head to the side. "It's going to be about arithmetic's this time, we really need you to be there. You're the genius at that kind of stuff! Anyways, I've got to go, I have exactly twenty minutes to finish jogging. Then, I have an thirty minutes of Yoga, because I already did an hour before this. After that I have fifty minutes to get ready before I have to go to summer school." He grins, his brown eyes shining in excitement. "Don't you just love following a schedule? I know I absolutely adore it! See you later Hadrian, hope you have a good day." With a wave of his hand he begins jogging away. "Remember, Study group, three days, same place, same time!"  
Hadrian waves at the back of the jogging man, shaking his head. _Typical of him, hopefully I'll be able to show up to the Study group._ "B-bye J-j-j… I'll try and make it!" He then quickly walks back into the house, checking the clock for the time. _Three minutes until uncle Vernon is downstairs. He'll want to relax for a minute or two before he demands a cuppa, and a plate of food._ Hadrian places the newspaper on the table before walking over the fridge. He pulls five eggs out, along with some bacon, before walking over to the stove to turn it back on. Around thirty seconds later, Hadrian cracks the eggs into the now hot pan, adding a bit of water to the mix, before stirring them. Without pausing in his mixing, he reaches over to the teapot and places it in the sink, turning on the water to fill it up. As the kettle was filling he turned on another burner on the stove, then places the now full pot onto the stove to boil the water. Hadrian with the eggs cooked and placed on barely any heat, just enough to keep the warm, turns to the bacon which had been cooking along with the eggs and puts them on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease, before going to the teapot and taking the kettle off just as it begins to whistle, just then a thump, followed by an angry bellow echoed from upstairs.  
"Freak, how dare you not finish your chores!" A slam, mostly likely the closet door, reverberated down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Shocked, and terrified, Hadrian whips his head to face in the direction of where the sound originated from, horror etched upon his delicate features. _What, what didn't I finish?_ He clenches his hands as he back away from the entrance, tears building up in his eyes as he shakes in fear. _The clothes, I forgot to hang them up in Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's bedroom after I cleaned them, they're still hanging up in the closet by the laundry. How could I be so stupid, so useless! I've made them angry, I've disappointed them so early in the morning. I'll never get a praise this way, you idiot!_ The sound of thundering footsteps is heard on the stairs, and the harsh breathing of a man can be heard. _What do I do? Say that I forgot? No, no I don't want to be hurt! Should I lie, should I say something not true?_ Hadrian's heart speeds up as a large man with greying hair comes storming around the corner. I don't want to lie, not to Uncle Vernon, or anyone, but I don't want to get hurt. I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I'll, I'll... make the house sparkling clean, the cleanest you've ever seen it, in apology.  
"Uncle Vvv-ernon, I p-put your c-clothes in the laundry, um... armoire. They w-were a little… rumpled after th...ah laundering, and I thought the humidity mm-ight help s-s, help sss-mooth... t-th, um, thh-em out. I rememb-b...ered you had a meeting today, oon if you would get a p-p… elevation, and th-th-ought... it would help make a b-b...etter first impression." Vernon sneers in disgust, his rage at being unable to punish Hadrian because of the logical explanation causes his face to grow an angry red in colour. "I h-have your n-newspapers on th...ah t-table, and th...ah t-tea is ready to b-b… s-s to sss-teep." Hadrian hunches his shoulders, as if he's trying to fold into himself. His emerald eyes gazing up though his eyelashes, looking at his towering uncle in front of him. Did that convince him?  
"Next time you decide to do something without my approval Freak, I won't be as lenient. Now get the food on the plates, and get my tea, then go get my suit and put it in my room," Vernon growls in rage. "After you're through with that, go do your chores, you're having no breakfast or lunch today." Hadrian's head bows down in shame, his face flushed in embarrassment. Hadrian, you stupid, stupid fool! How dare you disappoint him!  
"Y-yes S-s...ir, I unders-s...tand." His dainty hand rises to tug at his fringe, pulling his midnight black hair in front of his eyes. At the same time, Hadrian quickly scurries to the small wooden cabinet to grab a cup, and opening the drawer beside it for the tea strainer. Placing the two objects by the stove, with the strainer on top of the cup, he reaches for a silver tin marked with the words "Loose Black Tea", and taking the tea spoon within, scoops out a little bit more than one spoonful, dumping it into the strainer. After that he pours the still very hot water into the cup. Placing the kettle back on the stove, Hadrian places around four scoops of the eggs and five pieces of bacon on the plate; grabbing the hot cup of tea he carefully walks over to the table, placing the plate and cup in front of Vernon, before backing up. I hope he likes it, will he say anything, any praise, or any thanks?  
Without a word, Vernon immediately begins to devour the food on the plate, only pausing to grab some toast and grilled tomatoes, or to take a sip tea. After a few seconds he turns to Hadrian, who perks up in hope, only to wilt when he speaks. "Freak, I said to go get my suit! Not stand there like, like the mindless, stupid, idiot you are, go!" Hadrian quickly nods, backing away into the hallways behind him, clutching the chore list between his right fist, causing it to crinkle.  
 _It's my fault, I shouldn't have forgotten, but I did so I didn't get any words of gratitude. That's okay, it's alright._ He enters into the laundry room, going to the closet and draping uncle Vernon's suit across his arm, along with two of aunt Petunia's dresses that were in there because they had some stains across the chest and lap area. They don't have any wrinkles though, so that should help them. Hadrian makes his way to the master bedroom, looking at the list in his hand and read:

 ** _Today's Chores_**

 ** _THIS LIST MUST BE FINISHED BY 6:15 PM,  
GUESTS ARE ARRIVING AT 6:30 PM._**

 _Finish any chores not completed yesterday,  
for each chore not finished, you get __2 points_ _taken away._

Mow front lawn, perfectly even. +3 points  
Mow back lawn, perfectly even. +3 points  
Weed the front, and back, garden. +2 points

 _When finished, you get_ **10** _minutes to shower,  
you can only use COLD WATER!_ -5 points

 _Because of the guests, who know about you, you are to eat at the table .  
You will behave like a normal human being, and not do anything freaky!_ -10 points

 _The dinner list will be on the Hallway table at_ 4:00 _p.m._

 _IF YOU MESS UP ANYTHING,  
AND CAUSE MY PERFECTLY NORMAL FAMILY EMBARRASSMENT, _

**YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!** **  
**Current Points - 30

 _This isn't to difficult, but I'll get points taken away because I didn't finish hanging up the clothes, and the shower, along with dinner will take points. This means I'll have thirteen points, unless I finish the three chores on today's list, in which case I'll have twenty-one points._ Pausing in front of the aunt Petunia's and uncle Vernon's bedroom Hadrian shifts nervously from one foot to the other, before knocking on the wooden door. After a few second the door swings open, the scowling face of aunt Petunia appearing through the doorway.  
What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" She crosses her arms in front of her, eyes glancing at the clothes draped over his left arm, before bringing her gaze back up, only to look at his nose after meeting his tired emerald eyes.  
"Aunt P-petunia, may I enter? I need to put Uncle Vvv-ernon's suit away, I also have s-some of your dresses." Hadrian tugs on his right ear, looking down as he waits for an answer.  
"Fine, hang up the clothes then finish your chores, you did get the list right you foolish boy?" Aunt Petunia huffs, stepping further back into the room.  
"Y-yes aunt P-petunia. I have th...ah list." Hadrian replies, hurrying into the closet to put away the clothes. After putting the two dresses into their correct place, he hang up the suit in a rather empty spot on the rack, which is reserved for the suit of the day, which is what uncle Vernon will wear to work. Exiting the closet he stops in its doorway, gazing as aunt Petunia applies a deep pink lipstick. _How beautiful, I wish…_ Hadrian pauses his thoughts and proceeds to shake his head, almost violently, side to side, before briskly leaving the room to finish his chores.


	2. Endurance

Thank you for taking the time to read this, any constructive criticism is appreciated!

This is my first Fanfiction, so please keep that in mind when reading.  
Please inform me of any spelling, or grammar errors.  
I am trying to be as respectful as possible, so if any of the readers have, or know, someone who stutters, and you find something wrong, please inform me as soon as possible. I do not wish to offend anyone, in any way. Thank you.

Words - 2887

I'm sorry for taking so long to update, I know this is not an excuse but I've been sick for the past three weeks, and have bruised my ribs from severe coughing! To top it all off, when I missed a week of school, right when I came back it was the semester finals! So I'm really sorry, I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

(1): After the Rain, Nelson, Release Year: 1990

Here's the required disclaimer:  
This is a work of fanfiction using the characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter, and any characters you recognize were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling, and I do not claim any ownership over them, or the world of Harry Potter. The story I write here is of my own invention, and are not to be believe as part of J.K. Rowling story canon. This is for entertainment purpose only, and is not a part of the official story line. I gain no financial profit from the creation and publication of this story, and am grateful to J.K Rowling for the creation of Hogwarts, and the Wizarding World.

I know that this background, meaning before Hogwarts, or the famous "Yer a wizard Harry," might be boring but it's required for this story. On the bright side, it'll only be 2-3 more chapter until he finds out!

Thank you to everyone who favorited, and followed! Also, thank you guest commenter, that made me so happy!

 **Now, what you've all been, hopefully, waiting for, the story!**

Chapter 2 - Endurance

" _After the rain washes away the tears,"_ Hadrian sings under his breath as he places his right hand on the ground to steady himself, while reaching out with his left to rip out another weed. " _All the pain,"_ He overestimates the force it would take to get the weed out, and loses balance, falling back. " _Only after the rain."_ Hadrian throws the weed into the old metal trash can beside him, once more sitting up, and getting ready to pull out another weed with his tired, bleeding hands. " _Can you live again."_

"Aunt P-petunia, I'm done with t-t... th-ah list," Hadrian quietly trudges up to his aunt, who is in the kitchen, writing on a plain piece of notebook paper with a black pen. "W-what do you w-wish me t-to do?" The woman glances up from the paper, scrunching up her face in disgust at his appearance.

"Boy, why must you be so messy? Can't you do anything right, no, of course not!" Petunia huffs in displeasure, placing down her pen, before picking up the list to reread it. "Go take your _cold_ shower, after that get dressed in your nice clothes, you'll begin to make dinner then. This," She briefly shakes the paper in her hand. "is the list of what you are making, this time though, I'll be making the drinks, since the last time you attempted you did horrible," She pauses, placing down the list, and picking up the pen once again. "How many points do you have now?"

"T-twenty-one p-points, aunt P-petunia." Hadrian whispers in shame, bowing his head low.

"I see, did you add the clothing incident from this morning boy?" Petunia replies, tapping the end of the pen against the table.

"Y-es, aunt P-petunia." Hadrian looks up, nodding his head.

"Very well, go get that shower, you may use the guest soap, no points will be taken away for using them," She glances at the electric clock on the stove, tilting her head. "When you come down, Dudley will be arriving a few minutes after from his friends, if nothing held him back. You'll get a piece of chocolate cake out for him, and place it in the living room, give him a glass of chocolate milk when he arrives." Petunia glances at Hadrian, raising her thin right eyebrow. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"S-sorry, I-I'll get ready now!" Hadrian quickly leaves, stopping at his cupboard to get his nice clothes. _Aunt Petunia isn't… too disappointed in me! I'll hurry and finish this shower, so I can get started cooking, I wonder what I'm making today?_ Hadrian opens the cupboard door, reaching into the back to grab a plastic bag, and a small, old, wooden brush. Using his left arm to hold them close to his body. _I even get to use soap, soap! That's amazing, maybe that will help the rash on my right hip get better soon. It's really itchy._ All but running up the stairs into the bathroom, Hadrian quickly places the bag and brush in the counter before taking off his clothing. He pauses though, as he catches sight of himself in the full length mirror.

"I…I'm n-n…" Hadrian pauses, then proceeds to blush a bright pink in mortification. _Why should I care if my skin is bruised? It's normal for people with pale skin tones to bruise easily, and, and, just because I have a, a few, just a few, scars on my back, and some other places, doesn't matter at all. It's okay Hadrian, take your shower, and get right downstairs so you can make an impressive dinner suited for bragging._ Shaking his head, Hadrian steps carefully into the shower and turns on the water; making sure it's as cold as possible, before briskly cleaning his body, taking great care to be careful around his bruises and bright red scratches. While also, with purposeful evasion, avoids looking down at his body.

Placing the soap onto the ledge built into the side of the shower, Hadrian does a quick twirl in the shower to rinse off the soap, before turning off the freezing water, Hadrian reaches out of the shower to dig into the bag on the counter, pulling out a towel that he uses to roughly wipe his body dry, softly patting his face, before stepping out, making sure his feet are dry. _I need to make sure not to get the ground wet, Aunt Petunia will be sure to check. If there is any water on the ground, it's positive she will take away points!_

Once completely dry, Hadrian takes out his nice clothes, an old white, button up shirt, soft with age, and light black, almost grey, trousers. He also brings out his underwear, the same second hand… rags as always, and some black socks. The last thing Hadrian tales from the bag are some dress shoes, a few sizes too big, which has scuff marks on the front. _These are the only clothes that aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon personally bought just for me! These are proof they care enough, right? It has to be so, I refuse to accept anything less._ Hadrian dresses himself, happily giggling in delight. He packs everything, such as his normal clothes, brush, and towel, back into the bag. Then, Hadrian organizes the bathroom, before walking back downstairs to his cupboard, placing his bag back into the far corner.

"Freak, get in the Kitchen now, your ten minutes are up, and the bathroom had better not be in ruins!" Yelled aunt Petunia, who was sitting on the chair, nearest to the fridge, with a piece of paper in her left hand. _I thought the list for dinner would be laying on the hallway table? Why did aunt Petunia change her mind?_

"I-I'm done aunt P-petunia!" Hadrian shouts back, rushing into the kitchen to face the woman who was impatiently tapping the front of her shoes onto the ground, causing a sharp _click, clack_ noise to echo slightly in the kitchen.

"Count yourself lucky, if you had taken any longer, you would have gotten a punishment this evening!" Petunia stands, briskly walking towards Hadrian, who hunches into himself, before shoving the paper into his hands. "This is the recipe for dinner, don't mess it up!" She glares at Hadrian, then nods to herself when she sees him properly intimidated. _Oh, i-it's because she wanted to warn me._

"Y-es, aunt P-petunia."

"Don't forget Dudley's cake, and milk! We can't have him go hungry, he's a growing young man who needs all the food he can get!" Petunia says as she walks out of the kitchen, and around the corner to the upstairs. _What about me, don't I need to eat as well?_

Hadrian sighs sadly, lifting one hand to softly rub under his right eye as he begins to read the list:

Dinner

THIS LIST MUST BE FINISHED BY 6:15 PM,

GUESTS ARE ARRIVING AT 6:30 PM.

You'll be making Beef Wellington for the main dish,

The sides will be:

Roast Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes,

Roast Parsnips, Brussel Sprouts.

The recipes are in the cooking book on the bookshelf.

Today's dessert is Lemon Pudding with Treacle Sauce.

Current Points - 21

 _Beef Wellington, and Lemon Pudding, but, but that take hours to make! 2 hours is just barely enough! What was aunt Petunia thinking, no don't question her, just get started!_ Hadrian immediately bolts to the fridge, pulling out the needed ingredients, and catches sight of the chocolate cake. _Dudley, thank goodness I didn't forget him!_ He quickly cuts out a large piece, and takes the plate down the hallway past the dining room, and into the living room. He turns on the Telly, before hurrying back into the kitchen to get started on dinner and desert.

Closing the oven door, Hadrian takes a deep breath in relief. _Thank goodness I was able to finish the preparation around ten minutes early for the both of them. Now I have forty five minutes to cook all the side dishes, which will be just enough time._ Hadrian reaches for a random ingredient on the counter, and then begins to steam them, as they turned out to be brussel sprouts.

Just as he was beginning to mash up some potatoes, the front door slammed open. "Mum, I'm hungry, give me something to eat!" Hadrian turns his head, letting go of the masher so he can grab a glass, filling it with some milk. _Dudley's here, I hope he had a good time at_ _Piers' home._

"D-dudley th-there i-is some… sss-ome c-ake o-on th...ah l-eh-ve..ing r-room t-ta..ble, a-and h-here is a g-gla..ah..s of m-milk." Hadrian quietly says as he limps down the hall towards a rather obese boy, puddy from walking home from his friend's house a block away. His dirty blond hair sticking to his forehead from the sweat, and his watery blue irises glaring out from his piggy face, towards the _freak_ who dares to speak to him.

"Oh, you're still here. Anyways, It had better be chocolate cake Freak! I won't stand for anything less, especially from a nobody like you, put the milk by my plate, and take my things to my room! This is the only thing you're good for." Dudley carelessly drops his bag, that is filled with games, toys, and electronics, onto the ground and heaves his body down the hallway, and into the living room.

Hadrian hurries to follow him, his face flushed red in hurt and embarrassment, carefully placing the glass of milk on the coaster beside the plate. "D-do you n-need anyt-thing else D-dudley?"

With a sneer of his thin lips, he grabs one of the metal coasters and hurls it at Hadrian, hitting his side. With a pained yelp, Hadrian crumples to the floor, clutching his side. "I already told you what to do, listen to me you, you stupid person!" Along with his outburst, spittle flies from his lips in an incredible imitation of his father Vernon.

Shaking in pain at the injury to his body, Hadrian carefully stands, turned away from Dudley in an attempt to protect himself from further harm. "I-I I'm s-sorr-ie, I-I'll g-get y-you'r-eh b-bag p-put u-uh..p." With tears of pain in his eyes, Hadrian shuffles from the room. Dudley stuffing his face with chocolate cake behind him.

Sniffling in both pain and, mostly, shame, Hadrian hurries towards Dudley's abandoned bag, picking it up to carefully, so very carefully, climb up the stairs. Turning to the right when he reaches the top, Hadrian opens Dudley's bedroom door, and begins to unpack. With each item he takes out, he places them in their spot on the "favourites spot," which is on the bedside table, where all of Dudley's current favourite toys and games are. These toys and games tend to be replaced, or thrown away every week or so. With the record for longest being a week and a half, and the shortest being an hour. _If only I had a room like this! Then I could bring in animals and have lots and lots of books! How fun… but I don't want to say goodbye to my cupboard, that would be bad._

 _I have to finish the food, there's not much time left for everything I need to finish!_ Rushing back into the kitchen, Hadrian takes out the finish, yet not overdone brussel sprouts, and replaces them with potatoes, rushing to finish everything in time. _The mash potatoes take around 20 minutes to make, and with the size of these parsnips, it will take around 30 minutes, and, and the, what was it? Oh! The roasted potatoes will take around 30 minutes._

Hadrian carefully cooks everything to perfection, filled with hope that he might get praised for doing all of this in such a short amount of time. _I can do this!_

With only five minutes to spare, all the food except the Lemon Pudding, which is cooling on top of the stove, is done cooking and placed on the dining room table. He had carefully placed everything just so, with the Beef Wellington on a large silver serving plate, that has victorian designs on it. The sides, which include roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, and steamed brussel sprouts are placed in a straight line down each side, the brussel sprouts and roasted parsnips on the left of the beef wellington, while the potatoes are on the right, nearest to where uncle Vernon will sit.

He had also gotten out some bread rolls and placed them in a two bowls, one each near the end of the table. After that, he had gotten the plates and eating utensils out, placing them in their spots. Hadrian was so used to not including himself, he almost forgot. _I'm actually eating with them! Me!_ When that was finished he got out aunt Petunia's crystal drinking glasses, which he had overheard her telling Dudley came from her parents. _These belonged to grandmother, and grandfather! I have to be careful, if I drop these I would feel horrible, and uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia would be mad!_ Hadrian takes a step back, looking over the setup before nodding in satisfaction. _I finished, and it looks like it belongs in a magazine, at least the magazines I have seen when we go grocery shopping._

"Freak, you'd better be done with dinner!" Hadrian whips his head around to look at his aunt who had just come downstairs. She was dressed in a pale yellow dress with white accents, which brought out her blue eyes, and made her hair glow. _Aunt Petunia is beautiful!_

"Y-es, aunt P-petunia, I-I'm done." Hadrian shuffles to the side, so she could completely see the table. "Do y-you like it?" He stares hopefully at her, his eyes seemingly looking straight into her soul. She shifts in discomfort when she meets his eyes, looking away, and towards the front door.

"I suppose this is passable, where is the Lemon Pudding?" She asks, turning her head once more to look into the kitchen.

"It's c-cooling aunt P-petunia." Hadrian answers, barely managing to hide his excitement. _That was a compliment, even if it was a small one, I got praised! I got one! I got one!_ He quivers in happiness, his hands clenching open and closed from behind his back. His lips turned up in a beaming smile he hides from his aunt by tilting his head to face the ground.

"Alright, go wash your hands, then stand in the hallway by the door after you make sure the living room, and toilet are in proper order." With a nod, aunt Petunia then goes up the stairs to get Dudley.

"Y-es, aunt P-petunia." Hadrian whispers in a shaking voice, even though she was already halfway up the stairs. _Tidy up the living room. I got praised! Then make sure the bathroom is perfect. I got complimented! After that, stand in the hallway by the door._ With those sentences repeating in his head, Hadrian obeys his orders, going into the living room, and picking up stray objects, before placing them in their designated spots. After that, he goes to the bathroom and takes out a new roll of toilet paper, throwing the old one in the trash.

When finished with everything he goes into the hallway, and waits. A few minutes later, which he knows is almost exactly two minutes because he's been staring at the clock, he can hear Dudley and aunt Petunia coming down the stairs.

"Mom, I want to finish my game, I'm almost finished with this really, really hard part!" Dudley whines out, his face set in a scowl.

"Now Dudley, I know you want to finish that game, but this is important to your Father and I. How about this, if you do good during this dinner, then we will get you a new toy or game?" Aunt Petunia says, trying to placate Dudley with promises of something new. _Maybe… maybe I can ask if I can go to the study group in three days._

With a greedy smile, Dudley slyly grins. "Okay, then tomorrow we will go shopping for a new toy _and_ game!"  
"Yes, that's right Dudley." Petunia smiles, not realizing what he just did. She looks at the clock, which says 6:29, before glancing out the door. "Alright, Vernon and the guests will be here any minute now. Everything has to be perfect," She glares at me, her blue eyes icy. "That means you have to be on your best behaviour."

"Y-es, aunt P-petunia." Hadrian obediently nods, not wanting to anger her, and worse, uncle Vernon. Just then the car, with another following behind, pulling into the driveway.

Aunt Petunia tilts her head up, opening the door with a picture perfect smile. "Hello! How are you Mr. Pemberton, Mrs. Pemberton?" She calls out as their car doors open.

Still standing behind her, Hadrian winces as Dudley sneaks behind him and roughly jabs at the bruise he caused earlier. "Be one your best behaviour Freak, you wouldn't want another one of _those_ punishment would you?" He whispers with a cruel snicker.

"N-no D-dudley." Hadrian whimpers, cringing away from the cause of his pain. _I don't want to feel that again, I don't ever want to feel that again!_


	3. Tolerance

"...and then he just up and left! Her reputation is going to be ruined when everyone finds out on Monday, after all, who would be friends with a woman who can't keep her man!" Mrs. Pemberton exclaims, looking a aunt Petunia; who was entranced with all the gossip she was receiving.

"Why I never, Mrs. Jones, or rather, soon-to-be Ms. Taylor, must have been a horrible wife. Shame on her." Petunia replies, shaking her head in disgust; reaching her thin hand for another piece of bread.

 _What if it wasn't the fault of Mrs. Jones? She seems rather nice, and isn't she Margaret's aunt?_ Hadrian ponders as he listens to the women gossip, keeping quiet as to not draw attention to himself. _At least I know that the food I cook is good, maybe I could become a chef when I grow up! That would be fun._ He is then pulled out of his thoughts by a loud, _obnoxious_ , laugh from uncle Vernon.

"My boy is the toughest, and greatest, of them all, you know he's going to my old private school Smeltings, gonna be just like his father, aren't you Dudley?" Vernon said, laughing joyfully, and a bit smugly, as he looked toward his son Dudley, who was sitting across from Hadrian.

"Yes Da, I'm going to be just like you!" Dudley says as he brings his fork to his already full mouth.

"That's good, a boy should always follow in his father's footsteps, anything less than that is a disappointment, like my oldest son John, he decided, of all the ridiculous things, to be a tattoo artist!" Mr. Pemberton shakes his head in shame. "He has A's in all of his classes, I've tried to tell him that he would be a better Lawyer like his old man here, but he refuses to see reason."

 _A disappointment? Would my father be disappointed in my dreams, but, but I don't know what he did for a living. I don't even know his name,_ Hadrian looks down at his empty plate, tears growing in his eyes, threatening to fall. _If I ever find out what my father was, maybe, maybe I should be what he was. So that he could be proud of me, even if just a little._

"An artist, John wants to be an artist?" Petunia interrupts from beside Mrs. Pemberton, leaning to the right, towards uncle Vernon.

"Yes, my poor little boy, those friends of his must have done something to him. It must be that thing… oh what's it called dear?

"Peer pressure?"

"Peer pressure, he would never have gone against our wishes before he made friends with those horrid people, you know, one of them is Mrs. Jones' niece. Goes to show, bad blood runs in the family." Mrs. Pemberton sighs, shaking her head.

 _Niece? They mean Margaret, she isn't bad! Just because she has a dream of being a fashion designer, she, what's so bad about that? John must be that new friend she was talking about a few weeks ago, the one who has molded by his parents to be their 'perfect puppet,' in that case, is it really so bad that he wants to be himself… that I want to be myself?_

"Yes, bad blood does run in the family." Petunia replies, looking straight towards Hadrian. "This one here comes from a very bad family, his father a drunk, and his mother a whore."

Mrs. Pemberton gasps in horror, "Oh, you poor women, having such a stain in your household. You're a remarkable family for keeping, and caring, about a person from that background." She glances at the now red faced boy, shaking her head. "Yes, you can see that he's going to amount to nothing, I mean just look at him!"

Hadrian bites his bottom lip, looking down in shame and unexplainable, to him at least, rage. _How dare they talk about my mother and father in such a way? I, I wish I could say something, anything, without fear. I can't though, not when uncle Vernon, and aunt Petunia are near, and the Pemberton's are known gossips, they can't keep anything hidden._ He pauses, looking at the nodding woman called his aunt. _What, what if she's right though, what if my father was a drunk and my mother a...a wh-whore._ Hadrian just barely suppressed his whimper, he had learned very young what the word "whore" meant, in very detailed and graphic explanations by none other his uncle Vernon. Who had taken sadistic joy of destroying yet another spark of light from the young boy's eyes.

"Thank you for your sympathy, it's a struggle to raise such a delinquent child. I'm always so fearful that he'll influence my poor Duddykins!" Petunia sobs, _fakely_ , Hadrian politely wishes to add, taking a handkerchief from her lap to dab at her, _completely and utterly dry_ , eyes.

Mrs. Pemberton hums in sympathy, patting aunt Petunia's shoulder. "Yes, yes. It must be quite difficult. You're putting him to work though, so that means he can't get into any trouble."

Aunt Petunia nods, sniffling once, twice, then thrice. "The boy's put to work everyday, hopefully doing all his chores will work the _bad blood_ out of him. His mother didn't have any chores when she was a little girl, so she got involved in some… _dark_ friends. Then she went to the foolish school, with a idiotic name, and got even more trapped into the world. Then again, she was just like the boy here, she would have amounted to nothing, the only thing she had going for her was her beauty."

"Ah a woman's whose only good features is her looks will only be a trophy wife or mistress. That's just the way it is. My wonderful husband here fell for me because of my intelligence, isn't that right _dear_? Mre. Pembertons smiles tightly as she looks towards her husband who had frozen at her glance.

"That's right, your smarts and beauty drew me like… like a butterfly to light." _You mean a moth to flame?_ Hadrian thought sarcastically, though sluggish with shock and happiness.

Mrs. Pemberton smiles smugly as she looks back towards aunt Petunia. "Why did _your_ husband fall in love with you?"

"Well… because of my personality. I am also smart, if I do say so myself," Aunt Petunia says, discomfort evident to only those who know her very well. "Now, would you like some dessert?" She gets up at the rounds of yes comes from four at the table, the fifth silent. "I'll be right back." She hurries away, as if to run from something.

During the entire conversation Hadrian had stayed silent, because this is the first time he'd ever heard of anything at all about his mother besides that fact that she was apparently a… whore. It wasn't much information mind you, but it meant the world to him. _My mother was beautiful. My mother was friends with someone 'dark,' and she went to a school with an 'idiotic' name… she's like, like me! Maybe she can do the things I can!_ He looks up at his aunt Petunia, who, to his surprise, was getting up from the table. _Well, it's clear that my mother looked nothing like aunt Petunia then._ He jerks in surprise as uncle Vernon calls out loudly to him.

"Boy! Gather up the plates and clean them up. You're not getting any of the desserts that my precious wife slaved over, because of the insolence you had this morning. Instead you will clean the kitchen before heading straight to bed. Do you understand!" Vernon all but screams to the, now cowering, boy.

"Y-yes uncle Vvv-ernon" Hadrian mumbles quietly, quickly getting up and gathering the dishes. Skittering around both cousin Dudley and uncle Vernon, before all but running from the dining room into the kitchen. Though not before he heard a comment from Mr. Pemberton about what a small lad he was.

 _I'm small for a reason! I'm not good enough to get the food I need, it's my life-long punishment of being bad._ Hadrian thinks as he approaches the sink, where aunt Petunia is washing her hands. Exc-cuse mm-e aunt P-petunia, Uncle Vvv-ernon t-told mm-e washh th-ah d-dishes."

Petunia looks up at the boy, towered by the plates and bowls he's holding in is straining arms, humming softly as she moves out of the way, towards the desert. "Well get to it then, can't have you wasting time." she distractedly snaps.

"Y-yes aunt P-petunia." Hadrian begins to fill the sink with water and soap, only halfway though. Placing the dishes in the water after he sprays the majority of the grim off of them. "Aunt P-petunia?" He hesitantly speak up, pausing in his duty.

"What is it boy?" Petunia asks in exhaustion, looking towards the dining room as loud laughter echos out.

"May I g-go to th-ah libr-rary t-this Sss-atur-day?" During his request, Hadrian closes his eyes and hunches into himself, prepared for rejection. When no immediate reply comes from Petunia, and he slowly turns towards her in confusion. There, he sees something strange, Petunia is looking down at her hands, her eyes glazed and haunted, as if she wasn't here, but somewhere else.

He jerks slightly back when she looks up, peering into his bewildered ones. "You remind me so much of Lily," She shakes her head slightly, before pushing her shoulders back. "Very well, you are allowed to go to the library this Saturday, that means this Sunday you will have twice the chores, and in punishment you will not get the points you would have received had you done the chores on Saturday like you should have. Is that acceptable?" She asks, clearly not expecting a response as she quickly exits the room after her response. Not seeing the beaming smile, and nodding head of her nephew.

 _I get to go! I can't wait to see everyone, it's been so long! Not only that, but i'll get to read anything I want to, which means i'll get to read fantasy!_ He hums a lullaby as he turns back to the dishes, picking up the rag and a plate. _Earlier today, Jaden said that this study session would be about maths, I wonder if it's for a test or project? Aunt Petunia was acting strange, I wonder why?_ He pauses, blinking a few times. _Wait, didn't she say I reminded her 'so much of Lily,' did she mean mother? Does that mean mother's name was Lily?_ He perks up in joy, wiggling in happiness. _Lily! Mother's name is Lily, Lily Potter!_ _I learned so much about mother today! I need to write this down in my journal, so I won't ever forget this!_

Hadrian, with a goal set in mind, sets upon the dishes, washing and setting them to air dry. When he's finished, Hadrian peeks into the dining room, taking care to not be spotted. There he sees Dudley stuffing his face with desert and uncle Vernon doing the same in pauses of the conversation. Mr. Pemberton gesturing wildly with his hands as he tells a story about a trip he took in his teenage years that may, or may not be true, laughing uproariously as he gets to the climax of the tale. Mrs. Pemberton, on the other hand is sitting primly in her seat as she eats small delicate bits of the pudding with her spoon, complimenting aunt Petunia, who is drink a cup of tea, on her amazing skills in cooking.

 _Why thank you Mrs. Pemberton,_ Hadrin thinks, rather sarcastically he has to admit. _I do try._ Then, in a feat made by the greatest of ninjas in times past, he sneaks past the dining room and to his cupboard. Opening the door he, quietly, pulls the sheet from his pile of belongings and reaches into he backpack, grabbing a flashlight and his journal which has a pen placed in it. Turning on the flashlight, he closes the door and places the plastic sheet against the opening at the bottom to keep and light from escaping.

Flipping to the page with the pen in he picks it up, and looks at the page which has yesterday's entry on the left side.

 _Tuesday 18th, 1991, June_

 _Today I got 10 points taken away, which left me with 30 points. And didn't get any praise today. I have to make sure to spread those points. So i'll take a shower on sunday, which will leave me with 15 points, and eat a full meal, not at the table, which is another 5 points (eating at the table is 10 points) on friday, which'll leave me at 10 points._

 _I also need some more batteries for my flashlight, and that'll cost me 10 points, but since i don't need it yet, I think I'm okay with going another week or so, that way I won't have 0 points, which is bad cause what if I get punished and can't use my points to get bandages and stuff?!_

 _Anyways, I got punished cause I ignored uncle vernon when he told me to do something, I didn't mean to, Honest! I wash outside watering the plants and there was a loud car driving by. But I got whipped with_ the _belt, you know the one with the metal bits on it. It didn't break the skin, cause he only gave me 10, and took away a point for each hit, so I didn't have to spend any points on protect and other stuff. So I'm happy bout that, but I should get to sleep now, I don't want to be tired for tomorrow, if I do good enough maybe I can get a compliment!_

Hadrian reaches up to tug on his fringe, reading the previous entry as he wonders what he should write about today. Biting his lips, he decides, putting the end of the flashlight in his mouth so he could write and see at the same time. Then, pulling the cap from the pen, and sticking it on the back, and puts the pen to paper.

 _We_ _n_ _dnesday 19th, 1991, June_

 _When aunt Petunia told me what I was to do today, she told me that Mr and Mrs Pemberton were coming for dinner today, and I was to make it! I made breakfast and while that happened i went out and saw Jaden. Who told me about a meeting on saturday at the library._

 _I also, kinda lied to uncle vernon today, I told that i put his suit in the closet to dry so it wouldn't be wrinkled but that wasn't true cause I forgot to put it way. But he couldn't say anything so I didn't get points taken away. But cause of the guests coming today, I had to take a shower, which helped the rash from when dudley dragged me across the rug be clean, and eat at the table, so I lost 15 points for that. Aunt petunia put on some really pretty lipstick._

 _I finished the chores so I got 21 points instead of 15. I gotta wear the dress clothes today! They were so nice._

 _I made dinner, but she only gave me 2 hours and that was barely enough time! Dudley threw a coaster at me again, but it's been three day, a record! It hurt but that's okay._

 _And, and guess what? I got praised by aunt petunia! But that's not all, I learned a lot about mother today!_

 _Her name is Lily, Lily Potter! Since, I overheard aunt petunia telling dudley that her maiden name was Evans, that means that her name was Lily Potter née_ _(I learned that you add that from a book)_ _Evans Isn't that the best? And aunt petunia said mother was beautiful, and that was the only thing she had going for her. But that can't be true, cause I bet mother was amazing! Anyway she was friends with someone dark and she went to a school with a silly name. But there's more, aunt petunia said the she was like me, and later said that I reminded her of Lily! That means she like me!_

 _I also asked if I could go to the library and aunt Petunia said yes, I won't get any points for the chores I would have done on saturday, and I'll be doing them on sunday instead. But I get to go!_

 _This is the best day ever!_

Deciding that this will do, Hadrian takes the pen from the paper, nodding his head. _This is really the best day ever, I didn't even get hurt that bad, and I learned so much!_ Capping the pen, he places it in it's previous position of resting on the pages, before he closes the journal.

Putting it back in his backpack, hiding it between some clothes and other objects, just in case. Zipping the backpack closed, he pushes in the back towards the wall, He carefully shuffles around, grabbing his plastic bag, before getting his nice clothes off, and folding them and handling them as if they were gifted to him by the gods, placing them in their special bag. Picking it up, and putting it into the back corner, away from any danger.

Left only in his underwear, Hadrian grabs his blankets and snuggles under them. Pulling the plastic sheet from the door, he curls up on the sheet, and using his bag as a pillow.

Hadrian turns off the flashlight, plunging the room into darkness. _I hope tomorrow is good too, I don't want to… I don't want anything bad to happen. Maybe when I'm out at the library, I can get aunt Petunia a book. One of those romance novels, or I could ask around and get a new new lipstick or blush._ Staying still, time passes, although he's not sure how long, before he can hear the Dursley family saying farewell to the Pemberton's and going to sleep themselves.

"G-good night." He whispers into the shadows, knowing that an answer won't come.


	4. Recognition

Hadrian sighs in relief as the Library finally comes into view, it takes a while for him to get here by walking. Even longer if he's injured, which at the moment, and almost always, he is. He does like walking though, because it gives him time away from the house before he is once more consumed with the overwhelming need for praise and approval. It's a baffling change of personality, whenever he's by someone he perceives as "family" or as a "true friend" he becomes this being whose sole purpose is to make them happy. Then again, he does a lot of strange things, so this is just another one to add to the never-ending list.

A shout muffled by the distance reaches his ears, causing him to focus his eyes, which had blurred as he thought, to the Library steps. There, standing on the worn concrete, was Jaden, impatiently glancing at his wristwatch every few seconds. "Hadrian, you're late by exactly 3 minutes! That's taken up 3 minutes of the 30 that's allotted towards the communica-" He is suddenly interrupted by a girl, who has long black hair, placing a hand in front of him, or more accurately, in front of his mouth.

"Halt! Jaden, calm thyself. You know that Hadrian has to walk here, and he is easily distracted. Be content that he was able to come in the first place, you know how demanding his abydocomist aunt and dalcup uncle is!" Margaret frowns sternly at the now blushing Jaden, who was to busy staring at her. "Jaden, hey… Jaden!" She yells in annoyance, stepping closer to him, completely missing his lovestruck look. "Pay attention!"

"Y-yes you're right, s-sorry." Jaden, whose blush has began to deepen, nervously looks away from Margaret, who is now less than a foot away. In a moment of absolute brilliance, he glances towards Hadrian, who had stopped at the end of the steps, looking on at the scene in amusement. "Hadrian, my friend, good to see you! M-margaret wants to introduce you to her… friend she's been telling you about. You know, that fellow named _John_." Jaden said with nervousness, only to end with barely concealed jealousy as he spoke about Margaret's new friend.

Margaret abruptly turns to face Hadrian, unknowingly hitting Jaden in the face with her hair. "Yes, Hadrian dear! You are finally going to meet John! He's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent adorable!" She beams at Hadrian, who just blinks before glancing behind her back a Jaden, who is seething in jealousy.

"W-well I can't w-wait to s-ssee h-him." Hadrian smiles shyly, and with worry. "I h-hope h-he likes mm-e." Hadrian begins to slowly walk up the steps, stopping at the top to beam at his two friends. "H-hello J-j-j...aden, Mm-ahr-gah-reht."

"Kyahh! You're so cute, I just want to steal you and dress you up all day!" Margaret squeals with delight, overwhelmed by Hadrian.

"Did you literally just yell out 'Kyahh' towards Hadrian?" Jaden asks in disbelief, while also somehow saying it completely monotone. Shaking his head in complete exasperation, Jaden sighs, before finally bringing his hand up to his forehead. "You know what, I don't want to _know_. Let's just go inside alright?" He then proceeds to walk into the library in silence.

"Hey, Jaden, whatever is wrong with 'kyahh,' it's a perfectly acceptable way to express yourself when you have a strong amount of elation! Hey, hey, are you listening to me Jaden Taylor!" Margaret yells at Jaden, running into the library after him to further prove her point, leaving Hadrian alone on the steps.

 _Typical Margaret and Jaden, I wonder how this is going to work out. This John fellow is going to add an interesting and refreshing change to the normality. Ah, that reminds me, I need to ask Margaret what abydocomist and dalcup mean. Maybe they would be useful to know, especially if it confuses people!_ Hadrian lets out a grin, bordering on devious, as he walks to the library door, opening up the large wooden doors. _You know, I wish that the city would repair the library instead of other things._ He glances around, seeing a few regulars he recognizes. _Oh, it's Mr. Rogers. I wonder what he's reading about this time? Last time he was reading the History of Pottery. He mentioned something about a Potter being mentioned, maybe I should take a look at it after the study session._

Seeing their usual table in the far corner, he begins walking towards it. Greeting Mr. Rogers as he passes him, along with a few others like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Miss. Wilson. As he does, he studies John, and how he interacts with others. John is rather tall, with messy brown hair and, surprisingly, bright blue eyes. He is wearing smart clothing, although it doesn't seem like it's his choice, most likely his parents buy his clothing and only let him wear a certain type. _That make sense from what I've heard about the Pemberton family._ Hadrian hums, purposely not thinking, _really, he's not_ , about his own clothes, or rather, Dudley's old clothes that have been thrown out to the… freak.

"Hadrian! This is John, John this is Hadrian." Margaret beams, her hands clapped in front of her.

"Yes, yes. I'm sure they're quite delighted. Let's get back to the point of this entire meeting! We have to follow the timeline Margaret! It's very important!" Jaden inputs, slamming his hands on the table to emphasize the point. Only to wince in apology when the Librarian, Mrs. Williams shushes him with a glare.

"Nice to meet you Hadrian." John says as he bows his head in greets. Which Hadrian automatically returns.

"It'ss nn-ice to mm-eet y-you too, J-ohn." Hadrian says, placing his paper bag on the table. Sitting down, he reaches his hand into the bag and pulls out a cheap notebook and a smaller brown bag that holds a few pencils, a sharpener, and an eraser.

"How have you been doing Hadrian? We haven't heard from you in a while." Jaden, who had calmed down in the few seconds that passed, worriedly asked. Hadrian, who had opened the notebook to a fresh page, paused and looked up.

Tilting his head Hadrian thought, _what should I say? I can't say "Oh, just recovering from my punishment caused by my stupidity and freakishness." Yeah, that would go over so well, no problem at all. Let's just do what I do best, lie until it pleases them._ On the outside, only a mere second and a half had passed by. So when Hadrian softly smiled, his two friends relaxed slightly. "Oh, th-ah f-fay-mm-eh-lee just w-wantt-eh-d to ss-spp-end s-s-ome t-time tog-getth-ther. Mm-ahr-gah-reht, I w-want-eh-d to know w-what ab-bydoc-oh-mist and dalcup mm-ean."

"Oh! Yes, I just learned those the other day, aren't they interesting? Well, abydocomist means a liar who brags about their lies, and dalcup means a hair-brained, or dull-headed person. Do you want me to spell them out in your notebook so you can remember them?" Margaret asks, smiling at the suddenly red faced boy.

"Y-yes." Hadrian replies simply, pushing the notebook towards her, before looking down. Not seeing the concerned looks the three teens exchanged.

Meanwhile, Hadrian is attempting to hold back laughter. _That means she called uncle Vernon a liar, and aunt Petunia stupid! I can't believe it!_ Hadrian finally brings himself under control, looking back up as Margaret pushes his notebook back across the table to sit in front of him. "Th-thank y-you."

"You're welcome Hadrian." Margaret beams, pushing back a stray piece of hair from her face. "Anyways, about the homework. This week we're having a difficult time. The teacher is in the process of introducing us to arithmetic sequences, and you know how I am about maths. It's just a bundle of confusion and mental anguish. Please help m-us."

Hadrian laughs, picking up his pencil, and turning the page, after folding down the page that was covered in the definitions that Margaret just wrote down. "W-what p-p-p-part?" He asks, pencil poised to write down the lesson, instead of speaking is all out loud.

"Huh?" Margaret responds, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"He means, what part are you having trouble with in the arithmetic sequences." John, who had been silent since his first, and only, greeting towards Hadrian, finally speaks up.

"Oh! Well, I'm having trouble with the problems where they give you the common difference, and a term that's not the first one. Like this problem here," Margaret pauses to flip her textbook to a certain page, running her finger down the page until it rests somewhere around the middle. "Which says that we need to find the explicit formula for a sequence where the common difference is 3 and a7 is 23."

Hadrian nods, reaching up to tug on his fringe, before beginning to write down the steps need to reach the answer:

 _ **Arithmetic Sequence**_

 _ **d = 3**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= 23**_

 _ **Finding the explicit formula from d = 3 and a**_ _ **7**_ _**= 23**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ (n-1) d**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ (7-1) 3**_

 _ **Simplifying the Equation:**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ (7-1) 3**_

 _ **23 = a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ (6) 3**_

 _ **23 = a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ 18**_

 _ **5 = a**_ _ **1**_

 _ **Finding the Explicit Formula:**_

 _ **d = 3**_

 _ **a**_ _ **1**_ _**= 5**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= a**_ _ **1**_ _**\+ (n-1) d**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= 5 + (n-1) 3**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= 5 + 3n - 3**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= 3n + 2**_

 _ **Checking your work:**_

 _ **a**_ _ **n**_ _**= 3n + 2**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= 3(7) + 2**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= 21 + 2 = 23**_

 _ **a**_ _ **7**_ _**= 23**_

Finished with the steps, he sits back a pushes the notebook towards the trio. Jaden and Margaret immediately pounce on the notebook, writing down the steps into their own.

John on the other hand is staring at Hadrian in shock. "That barely took you a minute. Margaret was right, you are genius."

Hadrian blushes bright red in embarrassment. "I-i... i-it'ss not th-that d-di-fa-cult w-when y-you get th-ah h-hang of i-it." He tugs on his ear, before switching to his fringe, pulling down until it covers his eyes.

John eyes him, letting out a sceptical, "uh-huh, whatever you say," before turning back to the duo and writing down the steps as well.

This continues for the next hour, the trio of teens asking for help on a sequence, and Hadrian helping them work through it. When study time finally comes to an end, they decide to spend another half an hour talking.

"Jaden, look at this!" Margaret, who was looking through the local newspaper, which is mostly just full of gossip, points to an article about an animal show coming up. Jaden, who loves animals, gasps in delight, throwing away his dignity to coo at the adorable pictures alongside Margaret. Because of this, they don't see John melt at the picture they represent, blushing bright red as he looks at the both of them with adoration.

 _Oh! John, John likes Margaret AND Jaden! Oh, this is so cute! This is, well, adorable!_ Hadrian can barely contain his excitement, wiggling in his seat. _I can't wait to see where this goes! I want to do a Margaret and scream "kyaa," but I won't, because I don't want to ruin The Moment! Yes mind, it deserves and will receive capital T and M!_

John glances towards Hadrian freezing when he sees him looking back with wide eyes. He panics, glancing between Jaden and Margaret, and Hadrian. Only to let out a small yelp when Hadrian smirks, and mimics zipping his lips shut, before throwing away an invisible key.

At the sound, Jaden and Margaret look up to the two of them. "What's the matter?" Margaret and Jaden ask simultaneously

"Just ah…um." John falls silent, his face that had gone pale when Hadrian discovered his secret, now a bright red.

"H-hav-ing a c-conn-v-er-sss-ay-tion." Hadrian inputs, gently nudging John's foot under the table.

"Ah, Hadrian and I were just talking about my... dreams for the future." John fibs (although what he said is not a lie, since he wants them to be in his future, or more accurately, he wants them to _be_ his future. If that came true, well, he could die a happy man) twisting his shaking hands that rest on his lap.

Hadrian, who realized the hidden meaning behind his words. Let out a near silent sound. One that was suspiciously similar to "aww,' which he would never, ever, say at a time like this.

"Oh, I see! I'm overjoyed you're getting along!" Margaret beams, reaching over to pat his shoulder, before turning back to the paper.

John glares at Hadrian, who had snickered when John froze at the pat. Mimicking a "shh!" with his finger, John looks at the clock. Eyes widening in surprise, as the clock reads 6:37 in the afternoon. "It's late, I'm going to have to leave soon to get home by 7:00." John says, getting the attention of Margaret, Jaden, and Hadrian, all of who glance at the time in shock.

"Wow, time flies when you're with friends." Margaret, who had began to fold up the newspaper, says.

"I didn't even pay attention to my schedule." Jaden whispers to himself, clenching his fist in victory.

"I-i h-have to g-go n-now." Hadrian quietly says, gathering up his notebook and other supplies. _Uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley get home at around 7:30. They'll stay longer than aunt Petunia says, because uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley will want dessert. So if I go now I can get home about 10 minutes before them._

"I'm sorry Hadrian, I know you need to get home soon." Margaret says aghast, helping Hadrian get his belongings before pulling him into a hug. "It was wonderful seeing you, don't be a stranger, okay?"

"O-okay." Hadrian replies as he's pulled from Margaret's arms into Jadens.

"Thank you for coming, don't disappear on us, you hear?" Jaden whispers softly, before ruffling Hadrian hair gently.

"Y-yes." Hadrian dutifully, nodding his head.

John, who had stayed on to sidelines, waves his hand when he sees Hadrian looking. "Bye, nice meeting you, and thanks."

Hadrian, in lieu of answering, nods with a slight smile on his lips. Waving bye to the three before turning to walk out.

 _That was fun, and really interesting. I'm glad I could help them figure out their homework, although what I'm even more happy about is the triangle! Though it's not really one, John likes Margaret and Jaden. Jaden on the other hand like Margaret and doesn't like John. While Margaret is clueless about romance in general. I can't wait to see how this turns out._

Hadrian glancing at a clock on a bank as he passes by, yelping when he sees it's almost 7:15. _I'm almost ten minutes away, I can try and walk a little fast. Since I'm going to be going to be going to Miss. Figg's house tomorrow for Dudley's birthday._ He nods, walking faster, furrowing his eyebrows as the pain in his body grow with each impact of his feet meeting the concrete.

This continues until he pauses, not quite sure why. Looking around quickly, worried about getting home later than his family. Not seeing anything he starts walking once more, only to stop as a loud grinding comes from his left. He looks warily into the bushes were the sound was originated. With a deep breath he puts his bag down, and gets on his knees, his right hand reaching out to push a branch away from his face so he could see. _This is such a stupid thing to do. What if it's a cat, or a dog, or, or a murderer!_

Because of the darkness it takes a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, and when it does he gasps in shock. There, a bunny lays on its side, its stomach a dark red, fur matted with dried blood. It's head is turned towards him, it's dark eyes watching, seemingly judging his character.

 _That's...That's a silver bunny! What's it doing out here?_ Once more he overlooks the bunny, being sure to stay away from the mouth, just in case. _It looks like it got trapped in something, maybe someone was hunting it, but here? In this neighborhood? Maybe it got away though, and came here to hide?_

All of a sudden the injured bunny launches at Hadrian, causing him to freeze in shock. The bunny, looking into his eyes as he did so, bites deep into his hand, which was supporting his weight as he had examined the bunny. "O-ow, w-why?" It, the bunny, then collapses in him arms, as it had used the last of his strength to… attack him?

 _But why not attempt to escape, and why collapse in my arms? That doesn't matter Hadrian, get your act together! I need to get him to someone who will make sure he's alright, but I don't want him taken away for some reason. Why is that? It must be another part of my strangeness. Let's just accept it._ Hadrian looks down, biting his bottom lip. _Well, I can't do anything right now, I have to get home or I'll be in worse shape than this bunny!_

Hadrian stands up, picking up his bag as he does so. Turning, and walking home, he adjusts the bunny so it's more comfortable in his arms. _I'll keep him hidden in my cupboard until he recovers, then I'll release him._ Hadrian glances down at the unconscious animal, rubbing his thumb over his leg, where his hand was supporting him.

 _It's horrible, how can someone hurt a creature, he's never done anything wrong… I'll have to treat his injuries, I believe I have some bandages left, I'll use them on him, and I can get some more a Miss. Figg's house tomorrow._

As he gets closer to his house, Hadrian looks side to side, watching for any neighbors. Aunt Petunia had warned him not to be seen in the neighborhood, and he wants to please her. He sighs in relief when no one is nearby, sneaking into the backyard. _Aunt Petunia said she left the back door unlocked. I hope she didn't forget._

Much to his relief, the door opened without any problems. _Thank goodness._ Hadrian releases his breath, one he had been unaware of holding in. Quickly walking into the house, he closes, and locks the back door. Looking around the empty kitchen, he nods in satisfaction when everything is clean.

With his minor inspection finished, he walks through the kitchen door way, towards his cupboard. Just as he opened the door, the sound of a car pulling into the driveway causes him to freeze. _They're home! Quick hide the bunny!_ As gently as possible, while also being fast, Hadrian placing the bunny on one of his blankets, wrapping his up slightly to both hide him and keep the animal warm. Placing the bag in the room as well, he closes the cupboard door and hurries to stand by the front door.

A few seconds later, it opens, and aunt Petunia not even looking at him thrusts her bag and jacket into his arms. Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley quickly doing the same. Hadrian, who had stood straight up when the Dursley family had entered, happy and content to see his family, wilts in sadness at not being acknowledged.

"Freak! Hang those up then get in your cupboard! I don't want to see you again tonight." Hadrian nods his head when he hears aunt Petunia commands, joy at being spoke to warring with the sadness of the words spoken. Quietly, he follows her orders, putting up the jackets on the coat rack, and putting her purse, and uncle Vernon's suitcase by the door.

Taking a deep breath, and letting it out in a sigh. Hadrian opens his cupboard door, and closes it behind him softly. Kicking off his tattered shoes, he reaches into his backpack, and pulls out his flashlight, taking out a water bottle, and the last of his bandages.

Turning on the flashlight, he uses the blanket to clean the wounds on the bunny, wetting it with the water. The, doing his best, he wraps the bandages around the bunny, being as gentle as possible. _I'm not sure how I should do this, but this will have to do._

As he hears footsteps from the kitchen he quickly turns off the flashlight, and gets ready for bed. Laying down of the plastic sheet, and pulling all but the blanket the rabbit is using to cover his shivering body. His body, tired from injures and exhaustion, falls to sleep in a matter on minutes.

Unknown to him, he curls around the bunny, who in turn does the same.


	5. Resilience

Hadrian wakes with a soft sigh, the sounds of his aunt and uncle moving into the living room waking him from rest. He stretches, before stilling when a weight on his chest registers with his sluggish brain, still foggy with sleep. With his mind trying to understand what's happening, he cautiously opens his eyes, only to muffle a startled yelp as the face of a bunny shows up in his blurry vision, less than five inches away. _Anyone would want to scream if the face of a creature is in your face, in a very dark cupboard!_

He holds back his instinct to push the offending animal away and instead reaches towards his flashlight so he could study it. Turning on the light, he finds his glasses and slips them on before meeting the bunny's eyes.

Pausing in confusion as he meets green eyes just like his own. _Its eyes are just like mine! I could have sworn they looked different yesterday. Anyways, that doesn't matter Hadrian Potter, instead, let's make sure the bunny is okay!_ Carefully, he begins to sit up, gently nudging the creature off, and out of the way.

"Hello lit-tle one, I'm ha-hap-py you are awake." Hadrian smiles softly, still tired. "H-how are you? Can I check your inj-jur-ies?" He shifts, sitting on his knees and heels. The bunny hops closer, nose twitching as it places its head on Hadrian's knee. "O-oh!" Hadrian chuckles softly, slowly lifting his left hand to place it on the bunnies head. The right hand holding the flashlight so he can see.

He begins to pet the creature, silently awed by the softness of the fur. Hadrian looks closely at the bandages, torn between taking them off to see the wounds, or leaving them on because they were his last ones; and it takes 5 points to get more.

 _Although I could… ask for more. I currently have 24 points, so I would still have more points if I need medicine. Which would cost 15 points, so I'd have a little left._

He hesitates still, not wanting to hurt the animal more. _I'll wait until tonight because then aunt Petunia can buy the bandages today, and then I can use them._ He nods, though without confidence. Still petting the bunny, he tells them of his plans.

"I'll w-wait until t-tonight t-o chan-nge y-your b...andages. I don't-t know ho-ow l-ah-ng it w-will t-take for your inj-jur-ies t-to heal, w-hen you get b-b...etter I'll t-take you t-to the fffor-ehst, and let you g-go." Hadrian pauses, taking a deep breath because talking is a very difficult thing to do. He tilts his head in confusion when the creature jerks back to look into his eyes, looking almost betrayed.

"Huh?" The bunny moves its head back and forth before moving away from him. Going to the far corner to settle down, its eyes staring at him. _That's funny, why is it acting like that? It's almost like he understands me; but that's impossible, an animal can't understand you. Uncle Vernon said so himself when I told him about the snakes in the garden. I wonder where they all went? I've never really thought about it._

A loud laugh startles him out of his thoughts, causing him to glance at the door to his cupboard. _I do wonder why aunt Petunia is awake at this time though… why is she awake?_ He takes a few moments to think before his eyes widen in shock. _It's Dudley's birthday_ _ー_ _how could I forget!_ He begins to get dressed, pulling a spider from one of his socks, he pauses when a thumping is heard. Turning his head to the sound he sees it's the bunny making the sound.

 _I'm going to have to get a book about rabbits, maybe the library has one? I need to know what he's feeling if I want him to get better. Maybe there's a book about healing? That would be interesting to learn about._ Hadrian gives a shy smile towards the creature, lowering his voice to that of a whisper. "It'ss D-dud-dley'ss b-b...irth dd-ay, ssso It'ss needed for mm-e to go out there. I'll s-s...sh-oh with food-d lat-ter. B-bye."

Getting up, he tries to remember the dream he had been having. Something about a green flash and a flying motorcycle, which has been a running theme over the years. _Nothing you can do about it, Hadrian. Leave it be._ He opens the door, making sure the bunny is out of eyesight, before getting out. He groans, his back cracking painfully when he straightens.

"What, what did you say?" His aunt, who was passing by, snapped in annoyance.

"Nothing aunt P-petunia." He answered, still slightly in shock from the sudden accusation.

With that, he follows her towards the kitchen. Covering the table was all of Dudley's presents. _Wow! I wonder what present's going to be his favourite? He got a computer and another Telly. Since he's gotten more into games._ He pauses for a second when he sees a mountain bike. _Huh? Strange._ He pauses in slight fear as a thought goes through his head. _What if Dudley is going to use that to catch me in Hadrian Hunting!_

Over the years Dudley had developed a very thrilling game which involved finding, catching, and beating up Hadrian when they were both out of the house. Hadrian, much to the frustration of Dudley and his "friends," had gotten very fast because of that.

"Freak, mind the bacon!" Aunt Petunia snaps, fussing with a bow on one of the presents.

"Y-yes aunt P-petunia." Hadrian replied quietly, moving towards the stove.

Uncle Vernon puffed into the kitchen, picking up the newspaper which aunt Petunia had gotten this morning. "Good morning Pet," He pats aunt Petunia on the shoulder, before looking around; narrowing his eyes towards Hadrian, who shrinks back in response. "Ruffian, cut your hair!" He then proceeds to sit down and drink the tea aunt Petunia had prepared for him.

Hadrian thinks that they should just give up, his hair is another part of him that is freakish, sometimes even growing back overnight.

He was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen, aunt Petunia having given up on him waking on his own, had gone huffing silently up the stairs and woke him. _Good morning and happy birthday cousin! I can't give you a present, so here's breakfast._

Dudley had immediately went to his presents, counting them out loud one by one. Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, and thirty-six" His smile falls and he takes a minute to think. "That's two less than last year!"

Petunia, knowing her sweet angel like the back of her hand, scented danger. "Not to worry sweetums! You forgot to count Auntie Marge's present, and then guess what!"

"What?" Dudley asks, already bored with the conversation.

"When we're out today, you can pick out another _two_ presents! Which makes it thirty-nine presents!"

Dudley thinks it through, evidently deciding it's worth it when he sits down on a chair, grabbing the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckles in amusement, ruffling Dudley's hair. "That's my boy!"

Just then the telephone rang, causing Aunt Petunia to rush and answer it. Hadrian in the meantime had finished breakfast, delivering it to the table. _Happy Birthday cousin._

He quickly scurries away as Dudley takes a swipe, dodging the fist by an inch. _Well, I suppose I should have seen that coming._ He rubs him growling stomach, trying to muffle the sound, he hadn't eaten the day before. _I'm going to be going to Mrs. Figg today, maybe I can ask for some bandages for the rabbit. I like going to Mrs. Figg her cats are very nice, and they make great cuddlers._

Aunt Petunia sticks her head out from behind the doorway, " _Vernon, Vernon come here!_ " She waves her hand urging him to come to her. Uncle Vernon looks up at the hushed whisper, furrowing his bushy eyebrows.

'"What is it pet? Just tell me here." Aunt Petunia looks around, resting her gaze on Hadrian, and purses her lips in agitation.

"Bad news, Vernon," Aunt Petunia said. " Mrs. Figg's broken her leg, she can't take him today." Petunia jerks her head in Hadrian's direction. Dudley's mouth falls open in horror, and Hadrian's heart fell. Every year on Dudley's birthday, aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon took Dudley and a friend out for the day; going to amusement parks, restaurants, and the movies. Every year, Hadrian was left in the care of Mrs. Figg, a curious old lady who lived two streets away, he loved it there. She has the best cats, and stories to tell, and always gave him cookies and milk to drink when he was there.

"Now what?" Aunt Petunia demands, looking furious. Hadrian shrinks back from her gaze, curling up on himself.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I suppose we could take him to the zoo, and leave him in the car…"

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone."

Dudley, catching on to the fact that Hadrian may come to the zoo with them begins to wail loudly. "I...don't...want….him...t-t-to come!" He screamed between heaving sobs. "He ruins everything!"

Aunt Petunia flutters around Dudley, cooing to him. "Daddy and I will figure something out, don't you worry my angel."

Hadrian on the other hand was looking back and forth between uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia trying to keep up. Stopping to look down in hurt at Dudley's words. _Do I really ruin everything?_ He sniffs, trying to keep his tears at bay.

"Vernon! What do we do!" Aunt Petunia snaps in frustration.

Uncle Vernon rubs his chin in consideration, "We could look him up in the shed?" he lifts his cup of tea to motion outside.

"No, no that won't work." Aunt Petunia shakes her head.

Hadrian, who had frozen in fear at the thought of going into the _shed_ , relaxes at her words. _Maybe I could go to the library? Then I could be out of their way, and not in the house. Yeah, yeah that sound good._ He takes a deep breath, before letting out a hum to get aunt Petunia's attention.

"What is it boy? Can't you see I'm trying to think?" Aunt Petunia snarls in anger.

Hadrian shrinks back, looking down in shame. "Sss-or-ry, may I g-go to th-ah libr-rary, aunt P-petunia?"

She pauses, looking at the shivering excuse for a boy in front of her, before turning to Vernon. "What do you think honey? We won't have to see him if he goes, and he won't be in the house."

Vernon clicks his tongue, looking on in disgust at the freak. "He likes the place pet, he doesn't deserve a reward. In fact, he deserves a punishment for even daring to speak out of place," Vernon grins evilly, "Maybe a punishment in the _shed_ would be good for him."

"Vernon, not now!" Petunia says in exasperation, "Maybe in a few days, but not today! It's Dudley's birthday, and I don't want the freak near the house, and Dudley doesn't want him to come. This is the best choice!"

Dudley, having stopped his crocodile tears, looks up to his dad. "Please da! I don't want him to come! Just let him go to the stupid library!"

Vernon stops at the plea, sighing. "Fine, the freak can go to the library, but he has to be back by the time we get back."

Hadrian goes limp in relief, the fear of the _shed_ keeping him in high alert. _That was the first time Dudley took my side!_ He perks up slightly when he realizes, smiling to himself.

"Boy!" Hadrian snaps to attention at the sound of aunt Petunia's voice. "Get your stuff and meet me at the back door in three minutes!"

"Y-yes aunt P-petunia." Hadrian bolts out of the room, running to his cupboard and crawling inside. The rabbit, having been pressed against the wall perks it's ears in the direction of the door, it's nose twitching when Hadrian came in. Seeing him, Hadrian lets a smile come onto his face "Hello lit-tle one, can you g-get in h-h-here? He opens his backpack, motioning to the inside.

The bunny's nose twitches again, before it hops into the bag, burrowing into the bottom. Hadrian smiles happily, leaning down to see into the bag. "G-going to th-ah libr-rary!" The rabbit lets out a purr, causing Hadrian to let out a giggle. _I need to hurry, don't want aunt Petunia to wait for me._ Hadrian hurries, putting on his shoes, and zipping up the bag. Though he takes the time to pet the rabbit to comfort him, before putting it on his back.

Hadrian then stumbles to his feet, before tottering to the backdoor. When he gets there, he places his hand on the wall, his right hand going to his side as a sharp arrow of agony shoots through his side. The pain from the coaster that had hit a rib, one that never healed perfectly straight, had been causing him grief for the past few days. It might have been better if he had time to rest, but Hadrian had never had such an amazing gift of rest, and the rare times he didn't have to work were few. _It hurts._

"Boy, put this somewhere safe."

Hadrian looks up as aunt Petunia stuffs a €10 banknote in his face, blinking in surprise. Lifting the hand that was clutching his side to grab it, then pausing, not really sure what to do. This was the first time he had held money.

Aunt Petunia snaps her fingers, getting his attention. "Boy, use this to buy yourself some food. This takes 10 points away, and is already subtracted from your total. Don't even think about giving me back the change, just throw it on the street, somebody else can get the tainted things." With that she opens the backdoor, ushering Hadrian outside. "I'm leaving the kitchen window open, use that to get inside. We'll be back from the zoo around 8pm. Don't be late if you know what's good for you. Vernon's already got the shed in mind. Now off you go, I don't want to hear a whisper of gossip about you, do you understand?"

"Y-yes, I understand aunt P-petunia." Hadrian lowers his head, biting his lower lip. _The kitchen window, the kitchen window. Eight o'clock, Eight o'clock._

"Good," Aunt Petunia then looks back as the doorbell rings. "Now get out of sight." She then slides the door shut, and pushes the curtain closed.

 _Goodbye, have a nice day._ Hadrian sighs, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders, looking down as he begins to walk down the street.

Happily sighing, he opens the Library doors, walking into the comforting walls. _A home outside of home._ Looking around he spots Mr. Rogers, who is copying information from several books. _Mr. Rogers! I didn't have the time to ask about the book last time, I should ask him now._ Walking over, Hadrian shuffles in place for a few seconds, before clearing his throat.

Mr. Rogers looks up, blinking in surprise before breaking out in a grin. "Hadrian! How are you?"

"I'mm good, y-you?"

"Excellent, I'm researching the Witch Hunts right now. It's really interesting. Do you need something?

Hadrian reaches up to tug his fringe in front of his eyes. "Th-ah b-book ab-bout P-pottery?"

Mr. Rogers lets out a soft _oh_ , "Yes, let me go grab it. I'll be right back." he stands before walking further into the library.

 _This is awkward…_ Hadrian looks around in embarrassment, uncomfortable. _It's strange standing in the reading area when everyone else is either walking or sitting._ Hadrian grabs his right ear, tugging softly as he waits.

"Hadrian, I've got it. The name was somewhere in chapter three, where it details about the greeks involvement in pottery." Mr. Rogers exclaims happily, "Would you like to learn about the Witch Hunts with me?"

"No th-ank y-you." Hadrian says softly, shaking his head. "I w-want t-to read ab-bout rab-bitss."

"Oh, I see. There's an excellent book on rabbit behaviour in the back of the library, called _Looking Through the Rabbit's Eyes._ It's actually going to be donated soon, so maybe if you ask Mrs. Williams she'll let you keep it."

"T-thank y-you Mmmr. Rogerss." Hadrian smiles shyly, holding the book against his chest.

"It's no trouble, I'm always happy to help you Hadrian. You deserve it." Mr. Rogers grins, before looking down at his book.

 _I deserve it? What does that mean?_ Hadrian shakes his head in confusion, deciding to leave it alone. _Mr. Rogers said it's in the back, hopefully it's as good as he said it was._ He walks away after saying goodbye to Mr. Rogers.

Reaching the back, he finds a few carts filled with older books. After looking through two of them he finds the books Mr. Rogers was talking about. _Here it is! Looking Through the Rabbit's Eyes!_ He sits down in the bac corner, setting his bag down in front of his, and unzipping it. As he does so the bunny pops his head out his nose twitching.

"I found th-ah b-book ab-bout rab-bits, look." Hadrian smiles happily, holding up the book to show the bunny. The rabbit sniffs at the book, letting out a sneeze from the dust, causing Hadrian to giggle.

"I'm going t-to read th-ah b-book, b-but not aloud." Hadrian explains very seriously to the rabbit, opening the book to the first page. Pausing as the rabbit jumps out of the bag to land in his lap, curling up. "Oh, okay t-then."

 _Welcome to the language of rabbits, here you'll learn how to understand your pet and help it understand you! Now, the first thing you need to know is this, a rabbit is not a dog, or a cat. A rabbit is a rabbit, and acts like a rabbit… a rabbit "talking" through its body, and occasionally through sound…standing frozen with all four legs in a braced stance, ears straight up, and eyes open means your rabbit has heard something, and is waiting to see if it's dangerous, this can be followed by the rabbit thumping their back leg hard on the ground, and dashing away scared...Shaking ears followed by a hop means your rabbit is inviting you to play, or that it's excited about something... Nudging your hand, leg or foot forcefully can mean many things, either stop petting, start petting, or trying to get your attention. To get you attention your rabbit may also bit at your feet...If your rabbit is annoyed at you, it might turn it's back to you, or move away, and flick it's hind feet out behind it._

Hadrian sits back, sighing. _So when it moved away from me, it was annoyed. And when it was thumping its leg it was warning me of danger… but there wasn't anyone but my family there?_

He looks down at the rabbit, softly petting its head. _Thank you little one._

"Hadrian, where are you? Mr. R said you were back here!"

 _Margaret?! She can't see the rabbit!_ He quickly wakes the bunny, shushing his softly, and hides him in his backpack. Zipping it up, he closes the book and places it on top of _The History of Pottery_.

"H-here!"

Margaret peeks around the wall, letting out a laugh when she sees him. "There you are! I was so happy when Mr. R said you were here today, how have you been?"

Hadrian smiles, waving to her as she steps closer. "Good, read-ding ab-bout rab-bits."

"Rabbits? I didn't know you were interested in rabbits."

"New h-hobby."

Margaret laughs, flopping down on the ground in front of him. "It's great to see you, I wanted to tell you how my projects are doing." She rests her head on her right hand. "Is that alright?"

"Y-yeah!" Hadrian nobs, leaning forward. _I love hearing about her projects!_

"Great," Margaret grins in excitement. "So i've been working on creating some new pants, I want them to be flowy and loose, and have pockets that go pretty far down. It would go well with high heels or sandals, but I don't know if I want to create them with no patterns or with patterns."

"Could y-you do b-both?"

"I could but I don't know what patterns I would pick, and if it would be the whole thing, or just part of it." Margaret sighs in exasperation, "I'll just have to decide later, I'll make a few with no patterns, then decide."

 _Margaret isn't talking like usual, is she alright?_

"Say, Hadrian can I ask you a question?" Margaret asks nervously.

"Y-yes?" Hadrian replies, uncertain.

"Are, are you alright? I mean, are the Dursley's treating you alright?"

He freezes in fear. _No, no! I don't want to lose here, what am I going to do. If she goes to the police she'll forget!_

"Hadrian, I know you're scared, but I promise I won't tell. With my families reputation as it is, no one would listen, and I would never tell on you." She scoots closer, pulling him into her arms. Either not noticing, or ignoring his flinch. "I know how bad an orphanage is for some, and I don't want to lose you."

Hadrian begins to shake, hugging Margaret close. _She's not lying is she? She won't leave me will she? She won't, oh please say she's not._

"Y-you ss-wear?"

"I swear it."

Hadrian stays silent for a few minutes, before taking a deep breath.

"They don't like me, they don't let me eat with them, and if I do it takes points, and my bedroom is the cupboard. I have a lot of scars and bruises, and, and I have to work everyday for them. Sometimes I don't get food, and I run out of water and first aid stuff."

Margaret begins to rock him in her arms, humming softly. She continues to hold him for several minutes.

"I'll help you, I have a job, and I only spend it on a few things. My savings have built up a lot. I'll buy you medicine, food, and a reusable water with some clothes."

Hadrian jerks back, staring at her in shock. "B-but!"

"No! This is my choice Hadrian. I wish to care for you, to help you. Do you understand?" She stands up, pulling Hadrian up with her. Picking up the two books on the ground she waits for him to pick up his bag before she begins to walk to the front of the library.

"We'll check these out, and go shopping." Margaret looks back, smiling at the shocked pre-teen.

"T-thank y-you." Hadrian whispers softly, holding back his tears.

"My dear, I will always help you. Now, when do you need to be back?"

Hadrian thinks for a bit, before looking up. "Eight."

"Alright, it's two right now, so we have six hours to shop!"

They reach the check out desk, Margaret handing the Librarian, Mrs. Williams the two books, along with her Library cards.

"Oh, this book is going to be donated… do you want to just keep it?"

Margaret smiles politely, taking the book back. "Yes please, thank you Mrs. Williams."

"It's not a problem deary."

After stamping the library card on the inside of the book, she hands the book and the card back to Margaret. Wishing the two of them a good day.

"Now," Margaret grins as she pushes open the Library door, "Let's go shopping!"

Several hours, or rather five hours, of food, clothing, and supply shopping later; The two of them are resting in a cafe, eating, and drinking some tea. Hadrian trying to be sneaky, looks down, sneaking some food and water to the rabbit.

"Whatever are you doing Hadrian?"

Hadrian's head whips up in shock, eyes wide. "Umm, um. Not-thing?" He questions, his voice squeaking at the end.

"Uh-huh, sure." Margaret raises her eyebrow in disbelief. "You don't have to hide anything from me."

Hadrian looks around, suspicious, before motoning for her to lean closer.

Following his unspoken request, she leans over, letting out a quiet gasp as she looks into the bag. "A rabbit! So that's why you were reading about them. What happened to it?"

"Y-yeah, not ss-sure w-what happened, found it hurt w-walking h-home."

"Do you have anything for it, food or supplies?" Margaret asks in concern, petting the bunny.

"No, w-was g-gonna use m-mmine."

Margaret looks up, shaking her head. "Bleeding heart Hadrian, that's worse. After we're done eating, let's go to the pet shop, and go get some bandages, and supplies for just the bunny." She lifts her hand, resting it on Hadrians. "Is that alright with you?"

"Y-yeah, b-but I don't w-want y-you t-to run out!"

Margaret lets out a laugh, smiling. "I won't, don't you worry sweetheart."

Hadrian looks down, before perking up. Reaching into his backpack, he searches around before pulling out the €10 banknote. Holding it out to Margaret, he tries to get her to take it. "H-here, I don't h-have anyt-hing else b-but th-is."

"Thank you Hadrian, but I don't need it. I want you to promise me you'll keep it for when you really need it. That could help you someday, okay?"

Hadrian looks down, nodding. " I u-understand."

After they finished eating, they pick up their bags and go to the pet shop. Margaret buying everything from food, to toys, and finally a small bed.

By the time they were done, it was almost Eight O'clock, and Margaret helped Hadrian sneak back into the house through the kitchen window, placing the bags into the far corner.

She quickly sneaks out back as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway reaches their ears. "No matter what Hadrian, I'll do my best to help you. Have a good night." Margaret pulls him into a hug, kissing the top of his head.

"G-good night… T-thank y-you."

Margaret smiles, before running out of sight. Hadrian stares into the darkness blankly for a few seconds, before shaking his head and quickly hiding in his cupboard. Unzipping his backpack, he lets the rabbit out, softly apologizing for keeping him there for so long.

When a slam on the door startles him, he turns around in shock.

"Boy, you in there?" Uncle Vernon bellows. "You better!"

"Y-yes uncle Vvvernon." Hadrian shakily replies.

"Good." Uncle Vernon slams his fist into the door a couple more time, before wandering off.

Hadrian sighs, finishing bandaging up the bunny, and writing in his journal _Today, today was different. It was nice… is that, is that what family feels like?_ Hadrian closes his eyes, breathing out a stuttering sigh. Tears fall from his eyes as he cuddles the rabbit close to him. _Thank you Margaret, thank you so much._


	6. Strength

The library had earned him a loss of points so great that he was now in the negatives, he should have known eating with Margaret in a public place would get back to his aunt, and whenever the points are below five, he gets locked up in his cupboard. Thankfully he had managed to hide his new belongings, because none of the proper Dudley's would ever go into the cupboard, and for some reason, never even reach in. The food Margaret had gotten the rabbit was enough to last the entire punishment, and still have a little left over. Which was great, because Hadrian only got a small cup of water, toast, and half an apple every other day. Since he had gotten water bottles with Margaret, he was able to make that the rabbits water, and only ate half of the toast so he could save it for later, when he really needed food.

He had only been let out for school, and didn't even have to do the chores. By the end of his punishment, it was the summer holidays. Dudley already breaking many of his new toys, which then got thrown into his second bedroom. Hadrian was sad school was over, because even if he couldn't get a higher grade than Dudley, it was still one of his favorite places to go. Even more than that though, he was scared that Dudley's gang would get him one of these days. Hadrian wasn't able to run very fast, because he had gotten the belt for every point he lost, which was a lot, and hurt a lot.

Luckily, Hadrian was able to work near aunt Petunia, so that Dudley couldn't hurt him too bad. You see, aunt Petunia was his favorite, because not only did he feel the most drawn to her; the only times she punishes him was if he broke something, or interrupted her. And every time she punished him, she always goes into her room, slamming the door shut. One time he thought he even heard her crying, although aunt Petunia had no reason to cry, because she was the nicest most amazing person ever.

Today was his third day out of the cupboard, and he's happy to finally be able to cook, and garden again. That was the one thing he hated the most out of this entire thing. That and he was worried about the rabbit, weren't rabbits supposed to be outside? He recalls overhearing a conversation about how it's bad to stay inside all the time. _What if I'm hurting him more? I don't want him to be in pain because of me!_

Yesterday he was able to sneak the rabbit outside, because he had been locked outside for a few hours when they went to lunch with their friends. So the rabbit was able to be outside, and while he had tried to let the rabbit go free, it had refused to run away. _The rabbit must still be hurt, why else would he stay with me?_

Today though, he probably wouldn't be able to go outside, his list of chores was about the size of his arm. The brunt of the work being cleaning Dudley's second bedroom. He was rather excited for that though, because aunt Petunia didn't care if he took the older things. Just as long as he didn't say anything to uncle Vernon, or cousin Dudley. Just another example of how amazing his aunt Petunia was.

Right now though, he was cooking breakfast, uncle Vernon reading the newspaper. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were going out for the day to the movies and whatever it was fathers and sons did to bond. The reason was because Dudley had gotten his acceptance letter from uncle Vernon old private school, Smeltings. Hadrian on the other hand, was going to the local public school, Stonewall High.

Sometime in July, aunt Petunia had taken Dudley to London to buy his uniform, meaning he was left with Mrs. Figg. Mrs. Figg wasn't as happy as she was before, because she had tripped over one of her cats and broke her leg. She had let him feed her cats, and watch television. It was a very peaceful, and calm four hours.

When aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley had returned home, Dudley had walked around the living room in his new uniform. Along with his uniform, he had a knobbly stick, which was apparently used for learning to discipline others later in life.

Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia had both gotten teary eyed, and said this was the happiest moment of their lives. Hadrian wasn't sure that was true, but he wasn't going to be the one to say anything.

Anyways, as Hadrian is making the breakfast he is also trying very hard to not gag. You see, his uniform was to be grey, and Dudley's old clothes were being dyed, and didn't smell good at all.

He finished breakfast, placing it on three separate plates for the Dursley family, before putting them on the table in front of them. Taking a few steps back, he wipes down the cooking tools, and stands by the kitchen door in case he is needed again.

When uncle Vernon and Dudley are done, they drop the plates into his arms before putting on there shoes and coats.

"I'm off Pet!"

"Bye Mom."

"Have a good time boys!"

The minutes drag on, leaving an awkward silence to fill it. Finally, aunt Petunia sighs and looks toward Hadrian.

"Sit down boy, no use standing when nothing is happening." Aunt Petunia snaps, rubbing her eyes. Startled, Hadrian stands frozen for a few seconds before hurriedly sitting down across from aunt Petunia.

The woman in questions looks at him for a few long moments. Abruptly standing up, Hadrian lets out a squeak in surprise. Blinking in shock as she puts a piece of toast, banana, and a glass of orange juice.

"Don't just sit there like a fool, eat."

"Y-yes aunt P-petunia."

Hadrian slowly starts to eat, making sure not to eat fast enough to give himself a bellyache. Pausing when the doorbell rings, and the click of the mail slot followed by the flop of letters falling onto the mat. Hadrian starts to get up, only to stop at the sound of aunt Petunia's voice.

"Foolish boy, just keep eating, i'll get the mail."

"Y-yes aunt P-petunia." So he keeps eating his meal.

A few minutes pass before aunt Petunia returns, her face pale and worried.

"Aunt P-petunia?"

"Be quiet boy, I'm thinking."

Hadrian shrinks down, looking at his half finished plate. _I shouldn't have asked, I don't deserve to know anything. It's not my right._

"Boy, look at me." Aunt Petunia says suddenly, looking into his eyes when his head snaps up in answer. "You will listen to me, and listen close. Do you understand? You will not interrupt me, you will not ask questions until the end, and listen to me. This is the most important thing, you will _not_ talk about this conversation with Vernon or Dudley. Under no circumstances are you to tell them. Do you understand?"

Wide eyed, Hadrian nods his head. "Y-yes aunt P-petunia."

Aunt Petunia eyes him for a long while, judging if he was truthful. "Alright," She looks down at the letter in her hand, taking a shaking breath. "Alright, good."

"When I first saw you mother, my first thought about her was _gorgeous_ , your mother was beautiful, probably was until her last breath as well. When the two us were younger, we were close; as close as siblings can get." She looks up, gazing into his eyes.

"You have her eyes, her nose," She smiles then, weary and old before whispering. "Her smile." A heartbreaking laugh escapes Aunt Petunia. "God, I loved her, more than anything; I was so proud to call her my sister."

Hadrian sits still frozen to his seat as he looks at Aunt Petunia.

"Then, one summer _he_ came. The boy who changed our lives, Severus Snape. I'm sure it would have happened eventually, but by God was he that one to start it all." She sets the letter on the table, pausing for a moment.

"He called her a _witch_ , which was, and is, a slur. We later found out, he didn't mean it that way. She was magic, and so was he; real, wand waving, broom riding magic." She laughs in envy.

"I was so jealous, not of magic, but that my beloved sister would be taken away." She closes her eyes. "Taken away… she was indeed. That boy, talked to us like we were less. _Muggles_ , he called us, with scorn heavy in his voice. We were like insects in his eyes, disgusting, yet useful." Her voice trembles with rage.

"She went away, to a school called _Hogwarts_. She made friends, and enemies, and through it all; that damn boy was there, whispering in her ear. Every year, when she came back from her school, she got worse, and worse, until finally she snapped."

She takes the letter in her hands, holding it to her chest. "She yelled, and shouted about how I could never understand that struggles she was going through. How she knew I was jealous of her, and how I wish to be in her place."

A tear falls down her face, her lips shaking. "That's just it though, I just wanted a sister. She was all I had."

Hadrian furrows his eyebrows in confusion. _All I had?_  
"My mother and father did not love me. I wasn't beautiful, or a genius, and most certainly not magical. My flaws caused them to attempt to conceive another child, yet they were unable to. My birth was a traumatic one, for my mother. She couldn't carry anymore children. So they adopted. Lily was the result of that, an unnamed child abandoned at the orphanage. A family member who was untainted by my parents. Yet, that boy took her away. It was only a few years later that I realized he wasn't around anymore."

"Yet, she wasn't alone; someone else had taken that boys' place. A one James Potter, your father. In her later years, she all but ignored me. She married your father, went into hiding because of a war she had no reason fighting in; then she had you, and then not long later died, murdered by a mad man."

Hadrian begins to shake, tears falling down his face. _Murdered? My mother was killed? Adopted? I'm, I'm not related to aunt Petunia?_

"During that time, I was married off by my father; to Vernon Dursley a new upcoming worker in his business. Without my consent, I was told to have his child. Mother wasn't the only one traumatized during my birth though, I was underdeveloped. It took me three years to have Dudley, and he's the only child I'll ever have."

 _Aunt Petunia didn't want to marry uncle Vernon?_

"I can't leave Vernon though, because I have no life skills. My father made sure of that when it was found that I was not a genius. Anyways, I don't think I could ever leave Dudley, my own flesh and blood. Then you showed up, in a basket on a cold october day. They didn't ring the bell, they just left you there, with a thin blanket, and a letter."

Aunt Petunia looks up, her eyes blazing in rage. "They left a child, who could have gotten up and wandered off, who could have gotten kidnapped, who could have gotten killed by an animal, or a person, alone, abandoned on a porch in the middle of the night!"

"The letter left was threatening, and only told me that my sister was dead, killed by the leader of their enemy, and that I'm now tasked with taking care of you. A letter that said if we don't keep you, we'll wish we would have, that I'll lose what's most precious to me. He, that Albus Dumbledore, threatened me. That man who manipulated my Lily, who didn't let me go to her funeral, who abandoned her child. That man, whom I hate even more than my father, even more than that boy, Severus Snape."

"Now, a new letter has come. Again, from that world of magic. To summon you, Lily's child, to that world. To learn about magic, from the school of _Hogwarts_. I'm not telling you, not ordering, _not_ to go. Instead, I will tell you this. Do not trust anyone. You are on your own there, you will have no one who is beside you."

Aunt Petunia stands up, leaning over the table, her hands flat against it. "You listen close boy, do you understand."

Hadrian shivers, nodding his head. _Anything, I will do anything_.

"You will will go to that school, you will learn all you can. Then, once you do, you will blow them all away, you will not be manipulated, you will _not die_. You will not return to this house, you will not be under the _care_ of Vernon Dursley. You will find your home, a home that is filled with love, and you will live. You will live a life with _love,_ with _happiness_. You will be free."

Hadrian begins to cry, shaking with emotions he does not have a name for.

"You will do what I cannot, and say _no_. You will stand up for yourself, you will not hurt, and you will _love yourself_." Aunt Petunia pauses, leaning down to gaze into his eyes; smiling softly, sorrowfully. "You will go to that school, and you will not come back. And I will stay here, I will do my best with what I have, and maybe someday, I will see you again. Yet, even if I don't know this, I have _always_ loved you, but I am a coward, a weak and powerless human. Someday, I hope when you grow, you will forgive for my weakness, but even if you don't, I want you to be free."

Aunt Petunia stands, placing the letter in front of him.

"I will take you to London in three days. From there, I will show you Diagon Alley, I will go with you to the bank, I will go with you to the stores, then we will go out of the Alley. I cannot show you where to go, I cannot tell you what to do, but at that moment I will leave you. If you need me for anything school related you will send it to the mail office. I will leave you the address."

With that said, aunt Petunia leaves the kitchen. Hadrian behind her, gazing down at the letter with tear blurred eyes, and a face flushed red.

 _Mr. H. Potter_

 _The Cupboard under the Stairs_

 _4 Privet Drive_

 _Little Whinging_

 _Surrey_

 _I understand aunt Petunia, I'll live no matter what. I'll find my home, and be free._ Hadrian looks up the the doorway, aunt Petunia long gone. _One day, I'll be strong enough to rescue you too, and you will be free like me. I promise you, aunt Petunia, I promise._


End file.
